在线英语听力室

Study: Blue Whales Swallow 10 Million Microplastic Pieces a Day

时间:2022-11-14 01:16:25

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Researchers have estimated that blue whales take in about 10 million pieces of microplastics each day.

Microplastics are particles of plastic debris1 that are less than 5 millimeters long. They come from the breakdown2 of many kinds of plastic products and industrial waste. Particle levels have been building up in the world's oceans for many years. The possible health effects on whales from eating microplastics are still not well understood.

Scientists studied three species of baleen3 whales – blue, fin4 and humpback. Baleen whales are born without teeth. But they have special plates in their mouths that filter food. They feed on very small animals, mainly the shrimp-like creatures called krill.

A study by the researchers says the estimated 10 million pieces of microplastics blue whales eat daily weigh about 44 kilograms.

The whales were studied off America's Pacific coast. Research results were recently reported in the publication Nature Communications.

The study found that fin whales may take in up to 6 million microplastic pieces a day. Humpbacks that mostly feed on krill likely eat about 4 million microplastic pieces daily, the researchers said. Humpbacks that favor fish may take in a much smaller amount, about 200,000 pieces a day.

Matthew Savoca was a co-writer of the study. He told the Reuters news agency that about 99 percent of the plastic material came from other animals the whales eat -- not from the water they filter.

The study demonstrates the different reasons baleen whales may be at a heightened risk for taking in microplastics. These include the way they feed, the amount of food they eat and the fact that their environment is close to polluted areas.

Blue whales can grow up to 30 meters long. Fin whales can reach 24 meters, while humpbacks are generally about 15 meters.

The researchers estimated the daily microplastic intake5 by examining the food search behavior of 126 blue whales, 65 humpbacks and 29 fins6. They used measurements from electronic tag devices that they attached to the animals' backs. The device was equipped with a camera, microphone and a GPS tracker. They then considered levels of microplastics that exist in the travel path of the whales.

A study published last year suggested that blue whales off the U.S. Pacific coast eat about 10 to 20 tons of krill daily. Fin whales eat an estimated 6 to 12 tons of krill a day, while humpbacks take in about 5 to 10 tons of krill or 2 to 3 tons of fish daily.

The new study found that the whales mainly feed at ocean depths of 50 to 250 meters. This is within the area with the highest measured microplastic levels in the open-ocean environment.

Words in This Story

species – n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

filter – v. to pass a liquid or gas through a piece of equipment in order to remove solid pieces or other substances

tag – n. a small piece of equipment used to track the movements of things, people or animals

GPS tracker – n. to follow the movements of something with an electronically-powered piece of equipment

debris – n. broken items or waste material


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 debris debris     
n.瓦砾堆,废墟,碎片
参考例句:
  • After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
  • Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上,导致蛀牙。
2 breakdown cS0yx     
n.垮,衰竭;损坏,故障,倒塌
参考例句:
  • She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
  • The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障,但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。
3 baleen ZPey2     
n.鲸须
参考例句:
  • Other baleen whales have splash guards too,but not like this.一些须鲸物种头顶也有护住喷水孔的构造,但并不长成这样。
  • Baleen whales often appear in this region. Be careful!这一带经常有须鲸出没,要注意安全啊。
4 fin qkexO     
n.鳍;(飞机的)安定翼
参考例句:
  • They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
  • The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。
5 intake 44cyQ     
n.吸入,纳入;进气口,入口
参考例句:
  • Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
  • There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。
6 fins 6a19adaf8b48d5db4b49aef2b7e46ade     
[医]散热片;鱼鳍;飞边;鸭掌
参考例句:
  • The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关,与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
  • Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。